LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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HoUmger 

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Mill Run F3i.l7l9 



Stories of Old 
Oswego 



Copyright, 1919 
by Lida Scovil Penfield 



Stories of Oswego 



Tales of the early days told 
to the children of the Oswego 
Normal Training School 



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fm 




hy 
Lida Scovil Venfidd 



Made in the Normal Print Shop by the Students 
May. 1919 




It was over the great lake that the first white men sailed to 
this place. Who these white men were and why they came will 
be our next story. 

The First White Men At Oswego 

^NE day, in the middle of August, about two hundred fifty 
years ago, down the Oswego River came several canoes, 
in every canoe except one w^ere Indians of the Onondaga 
tribe. In that single canoe sat two white men, one dressed in the 
rough clothes of a woodsman, the other wearing the. long black 
robe of a missionary priest. On his bare feet were leather sandals, 
around his waist was a girdle of rope, and at his side hung a 
rosary and crucifix. These two are the very first w^hite men to 
come where the river flows into the lake. 

Along the river their boats glided easily, but out on the lake 
a heavy wind storm was driving the waves straight to the shore, 
and far up the river. The Indians in the leading canoe made a 
sign to the others that they could go no farther against the storm 
and turned their prow toward the river bank. The others 
followed, and soon they all had landed. 

The Indians w^ere especially careful of the man in the black 
robe, and he spoke to them in kind gentle w^ords. The Indians 
built a little shelter for the men from poles and big pieces of bark. 
They brought food for them to eat and spread blankets for a bed. 
For tw^o days that small company of Indians and tw^o w^hite men 
camped on the river bank, w^hile out on the lake the storm raged 
and the waves broke in silvery spray along the shore. 

The white man asked, "What is the name of this river?" 
The Indians answered, "We call it 'Oshwakee'." 
At last, on the third day the wind died down, the lake 
became smooth, and the sun came out. Then the Indians and 
tw^o white men launched their canoes. Their paddles flashed 
in and out of the water, as they passed down the river, out 
into the lake. They guided their boats to the east, past Baldw^in's 
Bay, around Four Mile Point, Pleasant Point and on and on 



even to the great St. Lawrence River, the Indians guiding and 
ijuarding the two white men all the way back to Montreal. 

Who ware these white men, the first to come to Oshwakee, 
and why did they take that long journey to the fierce Onondagas? 
The man in the black gown was the French missionary. Father 
LeMoyne; the w^oodsman w^as Jean Baptiste. They came alone 
all the way from Montreal to make Christians of the Onondaga 
Indians. Father LeMoyne brought presents to their chiefs, so 
that the Iroquois would be friends to the French, 

The Onondagas w^ere pleased w^ith the gifts and the kind 
words of Father LeMoyne. They said they would be glad to 
have the French come and live in their village. When Father 
LeMoyne was ready to go back to Montreal, the chiefs said, "We 
w^ill show^ you the best way to go back to the big lake." So 
a party of them took their canoes and brought Father Le- 
Moyne down the Oswego River. 

The next year the French sent an officer with fifty white 
men and three missionaries to live among the Onondagas and 
keep them friendly. They came in wooden boats. They brought 
guns, sw^ords, and five small cannon. They w^anted to show^ the 
Indians hov/ strong the white men w^ere. It took them more than 
six w^eeks to come from Montreal to the mouth of the Osw^ego 
River. When they at last arrived their food was all used up. 
They entered the river and landed. They sent a messenger to 
tell the Onondagas that they w^ere coming, and soon down the 
river came the Indians in their canoes to welcome their "French 
brothers" and take them to their village. 

The Indians were amazed at the w^onderful cannon. They 
gladly traded great quantities of fine furs for a knife or a gun, 
or china beads. But the French soon became afraid of their 
fierce neighbors, and in about tw^o years they hastily built boats 
in secret, and hurried back to Montreal. The French explorers 
and missionaries were the first white men to visit Oshwakee, and 
some times the French traders came to get furs of Indians, but 
they never built their homes w^here the river flows into the lake. 



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The First House in Oswego 

HE first house in Oswego was built by the English. The 
English and Dutch were friendly with the Iroquois. They 
traded with them, giving guns, powder, lead, knives, 
beads, and cloth in exchange for the pelts of beaver and 
other animals. The Onondagas showed them the Oswego River. 
At the mouth of the Oswego River was a fine place to trade with 
the Indian hunters, because it w^as easy for the Indians to come 
from the Iroquois country and from the west. At the mouth of 
the river on the west side was a small harbor, or cove, where 
boats were sheltered from storms by a neck of land. 

Every spring the Dutch and English came down the 
Oswego River to trade with the Indians. Their boats were 
loaded w^ith lead, powder, guns, knives, and blankets. The 
Indian canoes were filled w^ith pelts. The best pelt w^as a 
soft, thick, warm, brovv^n beaver skin. 

The traders built log huts for themselves, a w^hole row^ of 
them along the bank of the river. In front of these huts the 
Indians set up their tents, and the trader would go to look at 
the pelts of the Indian and show the Indian w^hat he had to ex- 
change. The Indians liked not only the w^eapons for fighting, 
but they liked the iron and copper kettles of the English. An- 
other w^onderful thing to them was a looking glass The traders 
brought plenty of these things. 

The French had hoped to keep all of the trade on the lake 
to themselves. They w^ere angry about the big trading post at 
Oswego. Now, the French charged more for their goods than 
the English did. When an Indian traded with a Frenchman 
he had to pay five beaver skins for a gun. An Englishman 
w^ould trade him a gun for tw^o beaver skins. It w^as so w^ith 
everything. The French charged four beaver skins for eight 
pounds of powder. The English charged one beaver skin for 
eight pounds of powder. For blankets, shirts or stockings the 
French charged twice as much as the English asked. 

The Indians came in great numbers to trade with the Eng- 
lish, even from far away. Soon there were two rows of log huts 



for the traders, with a wide space between for the posts of the 
Indian tents. 

The logs and posts w^ere cut from the thick forests. The 
canoes and boats crowded the river bank. Sometimes there were 
as many as three hundred traders and as many Indians here at 
the same time. 

When the French saw how the English were taking all the 
trade they said, "We must drive the English from the lake." So 
they sent orders to the traders to go aw^ay. But the English stayed. 
When the French threatened to come with guns and drive them 
away, the English knew that the log huts w^ere not strong enough 
to protect them from the French, so they determined to build a 
big strong house. 

They made the walls of the lower story of stone, four feet 
thick, with long narrow^ slits instead of window^s, through which 
they could safely fire their guns. The upper story w^as made of 
logs and projected over the lower story so that if an enemy tried 
to break down the door, the guard could shoot down at him from 
above. There w^as also in the upper story a ro'w of narrow w^in- 
dows. The new house was 30 feet wide and 60 feet long. 

The English built their new^ trading house near the lake, so 
that they could see w^ho w^as coming over the lake, and near the 
river, so that the boats could be landed close to it in the cove. 
Masons, carpenters, and blacksmiths came to build this house. 
They also repaired and built boats. The blacksmiths made bolts 
and hinges. They repaired the weapons and tools. 

When the trading season was over, the traders and builders 
went back to Albany w^ith their pelts. To protect their new trad- 
ing house during the winter the English sent a company of sold- 
iers. When the weather w^as cold, they lived in the stone house 
but in the spring they set up their tents around about it. Beside 
the trading house stood a flag pole made from a tall forest tree, 
and from its top floated the English flag. The English named 
their trading post Osw^ego. 

French traders heard about the strong stone house from the 
Indians. They sent men to see it. They thought the stone and log 
house w^ould be hard to destroy. When the English soldiers 
came to Osw^ego, the French knew that they would be ready to 



fight to keep the trading post for the EngHsh. The French 
planned to take a great many soldiers with guns and cannon to 
capture the stone house and drive away the English. 

Our next story is about how the French came with an army 
to Oswego. 



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When the French came with 
an Army 

HE English began to think that the stone trading house 
was not strong enough to protect the traders from the 
French, so they sent masons and carpenters to make a 
stone wall around the trading house. After this the house was 
called Fort Osw^ego. 

The English saw that the trading house was well placed for 
trade, but that the hill on the east side of the river was a better 
place for a fort. So the carpenters set to work to build a 
fort on the east bank of the river. They cut down great trees 
and set the trunks up close together to form a strong wall. They 
piled the stone and earth about it to make it stronger, and dug 
a ditch around it, so that it would be hard for the enemy to come 
close to the wall. These walls of tree trunks w^ere called stock- 
ades, and w^ere often used in the old times. The w^alls of this fort 
were built like a star with eight points. Inside the stockades 
they built a big log house for the soldiers to live in, and they set 
their cannon at the loop holes in the wall. At the top of the 
flagstaff floated the English flag, and they named the new fort 
after the big lake; Fort Ontario it was called. 

To the west of Fort Oswego there rose a hill, and the English 
commander knew he needed a fort there to protect Fort 
Osw^ego from attack on that side. So the carpenters cut more 
trees, and built a stockade on the hill to the west, just about vv^here 
the stone house w^e call the Castle now stands at Seventh and 
Van Buren Street. In those days there were no streets, just a nar- 
row^ path through thew^oods. This fort w^as built in a great hurry. 
The commander named it after the English King, Fort George. 

8 



But the soldiers, who knew what a poor defense it was, for fun 
sometimes called it Fort Rascal. 

Now there were three forts: Fort Oswego, by the lake 
shore and the cove ; Fort Ontario, on the eastern bluff, over- 
looking the mouth of the river; and Fort George, on the west 
hill, looking down on Fort Oswego. The English felt sure that 
the French would come by way of the lake. 

if the English had built a good fleet of boats armed with 
cannon, they could have gone out on the lake and driven the 
French back, but they were so busy trading with the Indians 
that they said" Our three forts will protect us v/ell enough this 
year. Next year w^e can build boats." So there were only a few 
small boats at Oswego to use for fighting. 

Now^ the French King had determined to drive the En- 
glish out, so he sent his bravest and best general to Canada w^ith 
orders to destroy all the English forts. He was General Mont- 
calm. He had made up his mind to capture Oswego. He 
gathered a large army of soldiers, Canadians, and Huron Indians. 
He had boats built — ever so many — to carry his troops in, and 
he had several ships of w^ar, armed with cannon. They set out 
secretly. They travelled as much as they could in the dark. 
They always camped on a river so that if the English in boats 
came cruising along, they could not see the French camp. They 
came along the shore from the east planning to seize first Fort 
Ontario. If they could capture Fort Ontario on the high bluff, 
they could aim their cannon at Fort Oswego and force that 
fort to surrender. 

The night before the attack the French camped at Baldwin s 
Bay and drew their boats out of sight all they could, but one of 
the small English boats discovered them and hurried back to give 
warning at the fort that the French were coming. 

The commander at Fort Oswego was Col. Mercer. He sent 
Col. Litdahales to command Fort Ontario on the east bluff and 
Col. Philip Schuyler to command Fort George on the west hill. 
The English worked hard all that night getting ready for battle, 
and so did the French. The French dug a trench and threw up an 
earthen wall behind which they were to fire at Fort Ontario. 
All that next day the guns fired again and again from Fort On- 



tarlo, and the French General Montcalm expected that he would 
have a hard time to capture Fort Ontario. But late that night some 
French scouts noticed that boats were crossing the river from 
the east side to the west side. In the boats were the red-coated 
English soldiers from Fort Ontario. Col. Littlehales had sent 
word to Col. Mercer that the French were bringing heavy cannon 
that would soon batter down the stockade walls of tree trunks. 
Col. Mercer sent back word to Col Littlehales: "Spike your guns, 
throw^ your powder into the w^ell, and bring your men to Fort 
Oswego." 

When the French scouts hurried to tell their commander 
that the English had left Fort Ontario, General Montcalm prompt- 
ly marched up and took possession of Fort Ontario. In the morn- 
ing the white flag w^ith the golden lilies of France floated from 
the walls of Fort Ontario, and a row of brass cannons pointed 
their black mouths straight at Fort Oswego. General Montcalm 
wanted to capture Fort George on the hill, to prevent Col. Schuy- 
ler and his men from helping Col. Mercer at Fort Oswego. So 
General Montcalm sent a captain writh a large company of sol- 
diers and Indians across the river, about a mile from the mouth, 
to make their v/ay through the forest and attack Fort George be- 
fore the English knew that the French were coming near them. 

The French captain took his men along the east bank up 
the river, so that the English in Fort Oswego would not know^ 
of his plans. They crossed the river just about where the first 
dam now is. They plunged in up to their waists, up to their 
necks, so eager were they to accomplish their surprise attack 

The French cannons could send their deadly fire right over 
the new stone wall into Fort Oswego. A shot killed brave Col. 
Mercer. Just about that time, the Indians w^ho w^ere w^ith the 
French began to shout their w^ar cry, and Col. Littlehales, the one 
who left Fort Ontario and who was now commander of Fort 
Oswego, because Col. Mercer w^as dead, sent orders to Col. 
Schuyler to abandon Fort George and bring his men to Fort 
Osw^ego. This w^as done and soon the French took Fort George, 
w^here they ran up the white flag of France with its golden lilies. 

Now the French held the tw^o hill forts of Oswego. The 
English were discouraged. Col. Littlehales thought it was better 

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HARBOR 1875 




<y ^s:t.:''^Ji\.^j^i,'J'd^. 



AN OLD TIME VIEW IN OSWEGO 



to surrender than to fight when the French had all the advant- 
ages on their side. Col. Littlehales sent a small company with a 
white flag of truce to Gen. Moncalm to say that the English w^ould 
surrender. Then the firing stopped. The English Colonels gave 
their swords to the French General Montcalm. All the English 
soldiers laid down their guns. The English flag was pulled down 
from Fort Osw^ego, and the French flag put in its place. All the 
English w^ere taken prisoners on French boats to Canada. 
The French took away all the tools and guns and food. 
They tore down the w^alls of the three forts; they burned all 
the store houses and huts, and left the famous trading place of 
the English in smouldering ruins. 

Our next story tells how^ the great peace treaty was held at 
Oswego between the English Sir William Johnson and the 
Indian Chief, Pontiac. 

The Council between Pontiac and 
Sir William Johnson at Oswego 

JOR tw^o years after the forts at Oswego were destroyed, 
the French were successful. The Iroquois Indians saw 
that the English were beaten at Oswego, so they believed 
that the French must be the stronger nation. The English gath- 
ered a large army to go against the French and capture some of 
their forts. Sir William Johnson w^as a man so friendly w^ith the 
Iroquois Indians that they adopted him into their tribe. He spoke 
the Indian language, and the red men w^ere alw^ays ready to listen 
to w^hat he said. The English sent Sir William Johnson to ask 
the Iroquois chiefs to help the English capture the French forts. 
He said to the chiefs, "The French are friends to your enemies, 
the Hurons. If the French win this war, all your lands w^ill be 
given to the Hurons. If you help us drive out the French, you 
shall be safe in your lands." The chief said, "We will help 
the English." They sent many Indians to fight with the English 
against the French. 

The English came back to Oswego and began to build many 

12 




boats to carry their soldiers to the French forts. Soldiers and 
Indians came in large numbers to Oswego. \^hen all was ready, 
they crossed the lake and captured a French fort. In that 
fort the English found many valuable things, including some of 
the very cannons that the French had carried away from Oswego. 

The English captured the French forts, one after another. 
The brave General Montcalm was killed in battle. The French 
were beaten and gave up all Canada to the English. 

The Indians who had helped the French wanted to continue 
to fight the English. There w^as in the western country a very 
great and powerful chief named Pontiac. He was an enemy to 
the English. Sir William Johnson sent soldiers to fight against 
Pontiac, and at last Pontiac knew that he would have to give up 
to the English. Sir William Johnson sent word to him, "The 
French have given up Canada to the English. The English do 
not w^ant to have w^ar. They want to have peace w^ith their red 
brothers. " Pontiac replied, " We see that our brothers, the 
French, have left us to fight alone. We, too, want peace. Tell 
your chief that Pontiac w^ill come to meet him. Take to him 
this pipe. Pontiac will come to smoke this pipe with Sir William 
Johnson as a sign of peace between the English and the Indians 
of the far West." 

In the spring Sir William Johnson sent word, "Let Pontiac 
and his chiefs come to meet Sir William Johnson and his chiefs 
w^here the river flows into the great lake. There they w^ill hold a 
council, talk over matters and smoke the pipe of peace." Pontiac 
sent back a belt of wampum and the message " I will come with 
my people. ' 

Ten years after Montcalm destroyed Oswego, Pontiac came 
with his warriors of the West, gliding in their canoes over Lake 
Ontario to the mouth of the Oswego River. Here on the bluff the 
English had rebuilt Fort Ontario, from which cannon boomed a 
welcome to the plumed red men of the west. Waiting to receive 
them were the chiefs of the Iroqupis, their friend Sir William John- 
son, and many English officers and traders. 

The day was fair and warm. The council was held on the west 
bank of the river. A canopy of evergreens had been set up as a 

13 



shield from the sun. There stood Sir Wilham Johnson, dressed 
in uniform and wrapped, Hke an Indian, in a red blanket bor- 
dered with gold lace. He held out his hand in greeting, and the 
haughty chief Pontiac grasped it firmly. 

On the first day, Sir William gave to the Western chiefs belts 
of w^ampum as a sign of friendship. The great peace pipe of 
Pontiac was lighted and passed solemnly among all the company. 
Every man took a whiff and passed it to his neighbor. The next 
day Sir William Johnson made a great speech. He said, "My 
children, peace is best. In peace times the traders w^ill come once 
more to you w^ith goods. The great English king, your father, 
will attend to your w^ants. Children, by this belt I turn your eyes 
to the sun rising where you w^ill find your brothers, the English." 

The third day Pontiac spoke. "Father, when our great father 
of France w^as in this country, I held him fast by the hand. Novv^ 
that he has gone out of the land, I take the English father. Here 
is a belt to strengthen the friendship between us." Sir William 
gave each chief a medal inscribed, "A pledge of peace and friend- 
ship w^ith Great Britain." So with many friendly words and gifts 
the council came to an end. The Western Indians launched their 
canoes, and chanting their w^ild songs, paddled av^ay over the 
lake to the land of the setting sun. Sir William Johnson and the 
Iroquois w^ent to their homes by way of the river. 

The English still ow^n Canada, but today Osw^ego is an 
American city. Our next story will tell howr the stars and stripes 
came to float above Fort Ontario. 



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ALLEN CASTLE -FORT GEORGE 




FIRE IN OLD OSWEGO 
15 



How Fort Ontario Became American 



m 
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: FTER the French gave up Oswego to the EngUsh at the 
fh end of the war, the Enghsh did two things: they re- 
buih Fort Ontario, and opened trade. The commander 
at the new fort was, for a time. Major Duncan. He was a fine 
man. He treated the young officer- as if they were his sons or 
pupils, though he was Hke a stern father and a strict teacher. 

The fort was a large place built entirely of earth and logs. 
The barracks, where the men lived, were cf wood, cold and com- 
fortless. The quantities of wood used in these buildings had been 
cut from the forests round about, and a wide space had thus 
been cleared near the fort. Major Duncan lived in a queer w^ood- 
en house set on wheels, that he had ordered built for himself. It 
could be moved about w^herever he w^anted it to stand. There 
w^ere tw^o rooms, his bedroom and his sitting room. The w^alls 
w^ere hung with deer skins, and rugs of bearskin covered the 
floors, in his sitting room he had books, globes, flutes, dumb- 
bells, and chess boards. The young men came there to study 
and practice. He had books on war, history,, geography, and 
arithmetic. Through the long winter he set the men to studying. 
Every day Major Duncan spent two hours examining the students, 
a few at a time. This was the first school we know about at 
Oswego. 

In the spring Major Duncan planned to use the fertile 
cleared land around the fort. He laid out a vegetable garden 
and a bowling green, or smooth lawn, where men could play 
tenpins and other games. First, he had the men build a palis- 
ade, or fence; then they dug up the ground and planted it with 
beans, peas, and Indian corn. The garden was beautiful. Where- 
ever there was a mulberry, wild plum, or cherry tree, it was left 
standing to blossom and bear fruit. They built a summer house 
in a tree. They made a fish pond, and gravel walks. The 
vegetables were fine and big. Soon they also had pigs, poultry, 
and even cows. All these things furnished gcod food for the 
soldiers, and this was the first farm and garden at Oswego. 

But trouble was coming. The people in America did not 
like the way the King of England treated them, so they rebelled, 

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and said, "We w^ill make an American nation and govern our- 
selves. " Thus the war of the Revolution began. Some Amer- 
icans favored the English king; they were called Tories. The 
son of Sir Willam Johnson w^as a Tory. The Indians joined w^ith 
the Tories. Many Tories came by w^ay of the Osw^ego River to 
go to Canada. The English still held Osvsrego. One winter 
General George Washington sent Col. Willet with 400 American 
soldiers to capture Fort Ontario. Their Indian guide lost his 
way. They came out from the forest at last on a hill overlook- 
ing the gardens and the fort. That hill was Oak Hill. They 
tried to capture quietly some English soldiers w^ho came out to 
cut wood, but two escaped and gave the alarm at the fort, so Col. 
Willett and his men had to turn back without capturing Fort 
Ontario. 

The Americans won the war of the Revolution and made 
a new nation called the United States of America. England 
kept Canada, and she kept some of the lake forts on the Ameri- 
can side a long time after the w^ar w^as over. At last, in July, 
1 796, England agreed to give up Fort Ontario. .American sol- 
diers came down the river; they were received w^ith great polite- 
ness by the English officers w^ho turned over to them the fort 
and the beautiful gardens, all in fine order. The English flag 
w^as hauled down from the flag pole, and the stars and stripes 
went up to the top to show to all the world that, from that time 
on, Fort Ontario was to be American. 

Our next story w^ill tell how^ the village of Osw^ego grew^ 
where the river flows into the lake. 

How Oswego Village Grew 

)OON after the end of the Revolutionary War, men began 
to build their homes where the Oswego River flows into 
Lake Ontario. The first man who brought his family 
here w^as Neil McMullin. They came dow^n the river in a boat. 
They brought w^ith them a frame house ready to set up, beams, 
door, windows, and all. Rankin McMullin, his little son, vkras 
the first child born in this house, which stood by the river bank 

18 




wh-re now Seneca Street is. The next family to arrive were 
the McNairs. They came across the lake from Canada. Matthew 
McNair, the father, was a Scotchman who had learned in Scot- 
land how to build ships. 

Mr. McMuUin and Mr. McNair earned their living by ship- 
ping goods on the lake and river. Matthew McNair built boats. 

Daniel Burt was another early settler. He had several sons 
who came with him. Bradner Burt built the first school house, 
at the southeast corner of West Third and Seneca Streets. This 
school house was also used for a church, and for a court house. 
Lumber was needed for houses. Bradner Burt built a saw mill. 
Joel Burt ran the ferry across the river from the village on the 
w^est side to the f ew^ houses on the east side. Joel w^as the first 
postmaster in Osw^ego, and the first mail man w^as Onundiaga, 
an old Indian chief of the Onondagas. Once a week he started 
on foot from Salt Point, as Syracuse was called in those days, and 
w^alked forty miles, carrying the bag of mail for Oswego. The 
next day he would walk back again to Salt Point, with the letters 
from Oswego. 

Soon a blacksmith came to settle in the little cluster of log 
houses. A hatter, a shoemaker, a cabinetmaker, all found plenty 
of work. A grist mill to grind flour was built. A small tavern, 
or hotel was opened. The government built a stone pier to 
make the harbor larger, and on the high bank by Fort Ontario 
the first lighthouse was built. The tall stone lighthouse on the 
pier was built a little later. 

Alvin Bronson was a man who had a large business among 
the ships at Oswego. He built a stone warehouse by the river. 
He also built a beautiful stone house for himself that still stands 
at the corner of Cayuga and West Fifth Streets. Wherever you 
see a big square stone house, or a stone mill, you may be sure 
that it was built when Oswego was a village. 

The first church was built in the middle of the West Park. 
It was the First Presbyterian Church, and the people were very 
proud of it, because it was beautiful and because it had a bell 
in the steeple. There was no fire department in the village. 
Every house had buckets to use for fire. When the cry of 
"Fire, fire!" rang out, every man caught up his buckets and ran. 

19 



The boys helped too. From the burning building the men form- 
ed in long lines to the river bank, or to the nearest well, and 
passed the buckets, filled with w^ater, from hand to hand, up to 
the fire. This was hard work, and often the house or store 
would burn to the ground, but it was the best the villagers could 
do. 

One cold, snowy night late in the fall, there came the shout 
of "Fire!" Men rushed out to find that the beautiful First Church 
was all in flames. They formed a bucket line to the river, and 
to the nearest wells, but the wind fanned the flames furiously, 
and the water froze to the hands and clothes of the bucket men. 
They worked like beavers, but it was no use; the roof went 
down with a crash, and then the steeple, blazing like a great 
torch, toppled and fell. The bell rang out for the last time as 
it dropped into, the glowing mass of embers, and all the people 
looked sadly at the ruins of their church. 

Out in the lake, tossed about by the waves, was a small vessel. 
The captain was trying to make Oswego harbor. The wind drove 
the boat out of her course. The snow, falling thickly, hid the 
beacon light. The captain said to himself, "If we cannot find the 
harbor, we shall be wrecked! " All at once, a glow in the sky 
caught his eye. It grew brighter and brighter. The captain 
guided his boat towards the glowing light, and brought safely 
into the harbor his boat and crew^ of eight men. They w^ere saved 
by the burning torch of the church. 

When the canal w^as built along the Osw^ego River, boats 
came through the locks instead of going around the portage at 
the falls. Commerce on the canal and lake made Osw^ego a 
thriving village. A bridge w^as built. Roads were opened to 
Syracuse, Watertov^n, Rome, and Auburn, over which many 
people travelled in stage coaches. At last the first railroad was 
built to Oswego, and when the great iron monster of an engine 
came snorting and clanging into town everybody was at the station 
to cheer. That same year Oswego became a city. 

Our next .story is about a discovery that made Oswego 
famous. 



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How Starch made Oswego Famous 



V^i^yN the year when Oswego saw the first engine come puff- 



ll^A ing in over the new railroad tracks from Syracuse; in the 



year when Oswego changed from a village into a city 
in the year I 848, a inan who had made a wonderful discovery 
came to open in Osw^ego a factory where he could make large 
quantities of this discovery. This discovery can be used in 
several ways. Men vv^ho made calicoes and cotton cloths can 
use it to make the goods stiff. Women can use it in their 
homes to mf»ke the freshly washed clothes crisp and smooth 
when they w^ere ironed. Cooks can use it to make delicious 
puddings, or to thicken gravies and sauces. This substance had 
been made from potatoes, w^heat, and rice, but this man discover- 
ed a way to make it from a grain that grow^s abundantly in Amer- 
ica, a grain that the Indians used and planted. This man had 
discovered how^ to make starch from corn, and this is the way 
he found out. 

Thomas Kingsford was a poor young man who w^orked in 
a factory. He knew about making starch from potatoes and 
wheat. He knew, too, that there was starch in Indian corn, so 
he kept trying to find a way to get rid of the part of the grain 
that was not starch. He soaked corn meal; he ground the grain 
up fine, he cooked it, he mixed it with chemicals, he dried it, 
but he could not get the smooth white powder that w^ould make 
good starch. At the back of his house he had a room with 
pans, kettles, and tubs in it, where he used to experiment with 
corn w^hen he came home from w^ork. His wife used to watch 
him. At first she said " Why do you take so much trouble? " 
He answered, "When I find starch, we shall be rich." She be- 
lieved that some day he would surely discover the way, because 
he was so patient and worked so earnestly. 

One night, after he had tried everything he could think of, 
he was discouraged and tired. He said to his wife, "It is no use, 
I shall have to give up," and he emptied all the pans and kettles 
into one tub. The mixture looked all milky and frothy. His 
wife said, "Dont throw it out yet. Let it stand over night, and 
perhaps the starch will settle by morning." 

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Early the next day they both went to look, and what do 
you think they found? On the bottom of the tub there was a lay- 
er of smooth fine paste. Mr. Kingsford carefully poured off 
the liquid, and there was the reward of his patience, and of the 
faith of his good w^ife. That was the first Kingsford's Corn 
Starch, and it proved to be the best kind of starch. 

Mr. Kingsford took for a partner his son, Thomson Kingsford, 
and together they came to build their factory in Oswego. Why 
did they choose Osw^ego ? There were two good reasons : first, 
the fine water power of the river to turn the wheels of the 
factory; second, the many ways of sending the starch to other 
places, by boat, and by train. The starch was so good that 
everybody w^anted to buy it, and soon it w^as sent all over the 
w^orld. The Kingsford Starch Factory w^as for many years the 
largest starch factory in the w^orld. 

Mr. Kingsford called his invention Kingsford's Oswego 
Corn Starch. Where ever it was sold, people saw the name 
Oswego. Thus Kingsford's Starch made Oswego famous. 

Our last story is about the school that has made Oswego 
famous, and the man who founded it. 







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The School that Made Oswego Famous 

|EOPLE who live far away often say to visitors from 
Oswrego, " Oswego ? Oh, that is w^here the Norma! 
School is; — the Oswego State Normal School. " Why 
is it that they have heard of our school } How long has our 
school been in Oswego ? Who started it ? How did it grow ? 
Why are v^e proud of it ? 

When the first lighthouse was built in Oswego, a year after 
the first bridge was built across the Oswego river, in 1823, there 
w^as born in a small wooden house at Perry, New York, a boy. 
That boy was Edward Austin Sheldon. He grew up in the 
country. In his home his mother spun and wove the cloth for 
their clothes, made their candles from tallow, their soap from 
fats, and their sugar from maple sap. His father raised all the 
food they had. The harvesting and threshing were all done by 
hand. He went to school, but the teachers were so rough and 
harsh that he never enjoyed studying. He loved to know about 
things, and learned a great deal in the fields and woods. When 
he was seventeen years old he had a fine teacher who taught 
hisn what wonderful knowledge is stored in books, and prepared 
him for college. 

In the year before Oswego became a city, 1847, Edward 
Sheldon came to Oswego to work for a man who had a green 
house and raised trees and shrubs. 

In those days, there were no free public schools. Only 
those parents who had money to pay for the lessons could 
send their children to school. In Oswego there were ever so 
many poor children who had no chance to learn to read and 
write. Some of them had no father or mother, and they ran 
about the streets, dirty, ragged, cold, and neglected. Edwsid 
Sheldon loved children, and it made him sorry to see any little 
ones neglected and in want. He made friends with some of the 
boys and girls, visited their homes and thought how he could 
help them. He found 1 500 persons who could neither read nor 
write. He began to talk to some of the men and women about 
opening a school for these children. 

Edward Sheldon was the first teacher of this school for the 

25 



poor boys and girls. There was a big wooden building on 
West Second Street, w^here the engine house now stands. In 
the basement of this hall he opened school for the one hundred 
thirty wild, ignorant boys and girls who came to be taught. He 
was most kind to them and they loved him dearly. They used 
to run to meet him and crowd about him. People called this 
first class " the ragged school. " 

When men saw how much good "the ragged school" did, 
it was easier for Dr. Sheldon to persuade them to have free 
schools in Oswego, and in a few^ years the free public schools 
were opened. Mr. Sheldon w^as made the first superintendent 
of public schools in Oswego. 

He soon found that he needed nnore good teachers. Away 
over in Europe there w^ere other men w^ho loved to teach little 
children. One of these w^as Pestalozzi, who taught children to 
study the real things around them, just as you are doing, instead 
of trying to get all they knew^ from books. When Dr. Sheldon 
found that he needed such teachers to help him, he made up 
his mind to open a class to train teachers. He sent to England 
for a lady who knew all about the right kind of teaching. Her 
name was Miss Jones. That first training class for teachers was 
so successful that it grew into our Normal School, and New York 
State took charge of it. 

Year after year, young men and women have been trained 
here to be good teachers, and they have gone to teach in all 
parts of the United States. When people would ask, " Where 
did you learn to be such a good teacher ? " The answer always 
would be, " I was trained in the Oswego State Normal School. " 
Thus the name of Oswego was made famous by the school 
founded by Edward Austin Sheldon. 

When we look at Dr. Sheldon's portrait we can understand 
why the children loved him. We honor him for the good he did. 
Dr. Sheldon was the first principal. Dr. I. B. Poucher, Her- 
mann Krusi, Miss Cooper, and Dr. Mary V. Lee were four of the 
teachers who helped him. 

We love to remember that he founded " the ragged school," 
that he helped to make the schools of Oswego free to all the chil- 
dren of the city, and that for so many years he devoted his strong 
beautiful life to training teachers in our Oswego Normal School. 

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EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 434 120 n § 



